Incorporating high-resolution climate, remote sensing and topographic data to map annual forest growth in central and eastern Europe

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Jernej Jevšenak - , Technical University of Munich, Slovenian Forestry Institute (Author)
  • Marcin Klisz - , Forest Research Institute (Author)
  • Jiří Mašek - , Charles University Prague (Author)
  • Vojtěch Čada - , Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Author)
  • Pavel Janda - , Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Author)
  • Miroslav Svoboda - , Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Author)
  • Ondřej Vostarek - , Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Author)
  • Vaclav Treml - , Charles University Prague (Author)
  • Ernst van der Maaten - , Chair of Forest Growth and Woody Biomass Production (Author)
  • Andrei Popa - , Forest Research and Management Institute, Transilvania University of Brasov (Author)
  • Ionel Popa - , Forest Research and Management Institute (Author)
  • Marieke van der Maaten-Theunissen - , Chair of Forest Growth and Woody Biomass Production (Author)
  • Tzvetan Zlatanov - , Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Tobias Scharnweber - , University of Greifswald (Author)
  • Svenja Ahlgrimm - , University of Greifswald (Author)
  • Juliane Stolz - , Chair of Forest Growth and Woody Biomass Production, State Forest of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Author)
  • Irena Sochová - , Mendel University in Brno, Czech Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Cătălin-Constantin Roibu - , Stefan Cel Mare University (Author)
  • Hans Pretzsch - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • Gerhard Schmied - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • Enno Uhl - , Technical University of Munich, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry (Author)
  • Ryszard Kaczka - , Charles University Prague (Author)
  • Piotr Wrzesiński - , Forest Research Institute (Author)
  • Martin Šenfeldr - , Mendel University in Brno (Author)
  • Marcin Jakubowski - , Poznań University of Life Sciences (Author)
  • Jan Tumajer - , Charles University Prague (Author)
  • Martin Wilmking - , University of Greifswald (Author)
  • Nikolaus Obojes - , EURAC Research (Author)
  • Michal Rybníček - , Mendel University in Brno, Czech Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Mathieu Lévesque - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Aleksei Potapov - , Estonian University of Life Sciences (Author)
  • Soham Basu - , Mendel University in Brno (Author)
  • Marko Stojanović - , Czech Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Stefan Stjepanović - , University of East Sarajevo (UES) (Author)
  • Adomas Vitas - , Vytautas Magnus University (Author)
  • Domen Arnič - , Slovenian Forestry Institute (Author)
  • Sandra Metslaid - , Estonian University of Life Sciences (Author)
  • Anna Neycken - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Peter Prislan - , Slovenian Forestry Institute (Author)
  • Claudia Hartl - , Nature Rings – Environmental Research and Education, Justus Liebig University Giessen (Author)
  • Daniel Ziche - , University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde (Author)
  • Petr Horáček - , Mendel University in Brno, Czech Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Jan Krejza - , Czech Academy of Sciences, Mendel University in Brno (Author)
  • Sergei Mikhailov - , Mendel University in Brno, Czech Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Jan Světlík - , Czech Academy of Sciences, Mendel University in Brno (Author)
  • Aleksandra Kalisty - , Białystok University of Technology (Author)
  • Tomáš Kolář - , Mendel University in Brno, Czech Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Vasyl Lavnyy - , Ukrainian National Forestry University (Author)
  • Maris Hordo - , Estonian University of Life Sciences (Author)
  • Walter Oberhuber - , University of Innsbruck (Author)
  • Tom Levanič - , Slovenian Forestry Institute, University of Primorska (Author)
  • Ilona Mészáros - , University of Debrecen (Author)
  • Lea Schneider - , Justus Liebig University Giessen (Author)
  • Jiří Lehejček - , Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem (Author)
  • Rohan Shetti - , Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem (Author)
  • Michal Bošeľa - , Technical University in Zvolen (Author)
  • Paul Copini - , Wageningen University & Research (WUR) (Author)
  • Marcin Koprowski - , Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Author)
  • Ute Sass-Klaassen - , Wageningen University & Research (WUR), van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences (Author)
  • Şule Ceyda Izmir - , Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa (Author)
  • Remigijus Bakys - , Kaunas Forestry and Environmental Engineering University of Applied Sciences (Author)
  • Hannes Entner - , University of Innsbruck (Author)
  • Jan Esper - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Karolina Janecka - , University of Greifswald, University of Geneva (Author)
  • Edurne Martinez del Castillo - , Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Author)
  • Rita Verbylaite - , Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (Author)
  • Mátyás Árvai - , HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research (Author)
  • Justine Charlet de Sauvage - , ETH Zurich (Author)
  • Katarina Čufar - , University of Ljubljana (Author)
  • Markus Finner - , University of Innsbruck (Author)
  • Torben Hilmers - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • Zoltán Kern - , Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research, Research Centre For Astronomy and Earth Sciences (Author)
  • Klemen Novak - , University of Ljubljana (Author)
  • Radenko Ponjarac - , University of Novi Sad (Author)
  • Radosław Puchałka - , Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Author)
  • Bernhard Schuldt - , Chair of Forest Botany (Author)
  • Nina Škrk Dolar - , University of Ljubljana (Author)
  • Vladimir Tanovski - , SS Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (Author)
  • Christian Zang - , Technical University of Munich, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (Author)
  • Anja Žmegač - , Technical University of Munich, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (Author)
  • Cornell Kuithan - , Chair of Forest Growth and Woody Biomass Production (Author)
  • Marek Metslaid - , Estonian University of Life Sciences (Author)
  • Eric Thurm - , State Forest of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Author)
  • Polona Hafner - , Slovenian Forestry Institute (Author)
  • Luka Krajnc - , Slovenian Forestry Institute (Author)
  • Mauro Bernabei - , National Research Council of Italy (CNR) (Author)
  • Stefan Bojić - , University of East Sarajevo (UES) (Author)
  • Robert Brus - , University of Ljubljana (Author)
  • Andreas Burger - , University of Greifswald (Author)
  • Ettore D'Andrea - , National Research Council of Italy (CNR), National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) (Author)
  • Todor Đorem - , University of East Sarajevo (UES) (Author)
  • Mariusz Gławęda - , II High School. Stefan Żeromski (Author)
  • Jožica Gričar - , Slovenian Forestry Institute (Author)
  • Marko Gutalj - , University of East Sarajevo (UES) (Author)
  • Emil Horváth - (Author)
  • Saša Kostić - , University of Novi Sad (Author)
  • Bratislav Matović - , University of East Sarajevo (UES), University of Novi Sad (Author)
  • Maks Merela - , University of Ljubljana (Author)
  • Boban Miletić - , University of East Sarajevo (UES) (Author)
  • András Morgós - , Consart Bt. (Author)
  • Rafał Paluch - , Forest Research Institute (Author)
  • Kamil Pilch - , Forest Research Institute (Author)
  • Negar Rezaie - , National Research Council of Italy (CNR) (Author)
  • Julia Rieder - , Chair of Forest Botany (Author)
  • Niels Schwab - , University of Hamburg (Author)
  • Piotr Sewerniak - , Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Author)
  • Dejan Stojanović - , University of Novi Sad (Author)
  • Tobias Ullmann - , University of Würzburg (Author)
  • Nella Waszak - , Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Author)
  • Ewa Zin - , Forest Research Institute, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Author)
  • Mitja Skudnik - , Slovenian Forestry Institute, University of Ljubljana (Author)
  • Krištof Oštir - , University of Ljubljana (Author)
  • Anja Rammig - , Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • Allan Buras - , Technical University of Munich (Author)

Abstract

To enhance our understanding of forest carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation and drought impact on forest ecosystems, the availability of high-resolution annual forest growth maps based on tree-ring width (TRW) would provide a significant advancement to the field. Site-specific characteristics, which can be approximated by high-resolution Earth observation by satellites (EOS), emerge as crucial drivers of forest growth, influencing how climate translates into tree growth. EOS provides information on surface reflectance related to forest characteristics and thus can potentially improve the accuracy of forest growth models based on TRW. Through the modelling of TRW using EOS, climate and topography data, we showed that species-specific models can explain up to 52 % of model variance (Quercus petraea), while combining different species results in relatively poor model performance (R2 = 13 %). The integration of EOS into models based solely on climate and elevation data improved the explained variance by 6 % on average. Leveraging these insights, we successfully generated a map of annual TRW for the year 2021. We employed the area of applicability (AOA) approach to delineate the range in which our models are deemed valid. The calculated AOA for the established forest-type models was 73 % of the study region, indicating robust spatial applicability. Notably, unreliable predictions predominantly occurred in the climate margins of our dataset. In conclusion, our large-scale assessment underscores the efficacy of combining climate, EOS and topographic data to develop robust models for mapping annual TRW. This research not only fills a critical void in the current understanding of forest growth dynamics but also highlights the potential of integrated data sources for comprehensive ecosystem assessments.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number169692
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume913
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 38160816
ORCID /0000-0002-2942-9180/work/153107707
ORCID /0000-0002-5218-6682/work/153110557
Mendeley 639ad7ec-583d-3248-b78f-34171a4ab883
ORCID /0000-0002-5098-4090/work/158305057
ORCID /0000-0003-4738-5289/work/167217470

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • NDMI, NDRE, Random forest, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Tree rings, Trees, Europe, Eastern, Forests, Europe, Climate Change, Ecosystem, Remote Sensing Technology